April 2014

There are many reasons why households begin searching into solar power. One of the reasons is simply because once a solar panel is installed, there is surprisingly little maintenance involved in using them. So, after the initial payment has been dealt with, you don’t need to fret about putting additional money into them.

In recent years, the technology behind solar panels has improved hugely, particularly since the price of alternative energy forms has risen rapidly. Solar panels for the home are indeed the most frequent approach that homeowners use to make the most of sunlight. These panels take the sun’s energy and transform it into electrical power.

How Do Solar Panel Systems Actually Work?

The roof system – With most solar systems, solar panels are fixed onto the roof. The perfect spot would be one with no shade on the panels, particularly during the sunlight hours of 9am to 3pm.

A south-facing installation will normally supply the best possible potential for your solar system, having said that other locations can give enough production. Trained installation contractors use a device called a Solar Pathfinder to pinpoint likely areas of shading before the installation process.

Solar panels – Solar panels consist of photovoltaic cells produced from silicon, which convert sunlight into electricity instead of heat. Solar photovoltaic cells contain a positive and negative film of silicon located under a slim piece of glass. While the photons of sunlight beat down on these cells, they knock the electrons off the silicon.

The negatively-charged free electrons are attracted to one side of the silicon cell, which forms an electric voltage that can be collected and conveyed. This current is assembled by wiring the singular solar panels together in order to form a solar photovoltaic display.

Inverter – The inverter is generally placed in a reachable area. Inverters make a small sound, so this should be reviewed when choosing the location. The inverter changes the DC electricity produced by the solar panels into 120-volt AC without delay this can then be put to use by joining the inverter directly to a circuit breaker in the electrical panel.

Professor Henry Snaith has been presented with the Materials Research Society’s (MRS) distinguished Outstanding Young Investigator Award for his work on the development of perovskite-based solar cells.

The prestigious award was announced at the 2014 MRS Spring Meeting’s Awards Ceremony & Plenary Session which was held in San Francisco. The Professor of physics at Oxford University is introducing a new generation of thin-film – low cost photovoltaic technology that can simply be integrated into the glass exteriors of buildings.

The Professor’s technology recently reached power conversion efficiencies of 17% and is set to transform the Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) Industry, along with utility applications.

Talking about the award, he said: “I am delighted to be held in such esteem by the Materials Research Society. It is a great honor to receive the award and recognition such as this really helps to raise the profile of the exciting developments we are making in solar technology which we believe will result in a transformational change across the world.”

The MRS Outstanding Young Investigator Award acknowledges ‘outstanding, interdisciplinary scientific work in materials research by a young scientist or engineer.’ The award recipient ‘must also show exceptional promise as a developing leader in the materials area.’

Professor Snaith’s work has previously been recognised back in 2012, when he was awarded the Institute of Physics’ Patterson Medal, and in 2013, Nature magazine included him in its esteemed yearly list of ten people who have made a difference to science – the only UK scientist to be included!

Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Oxford PV, Kevin Arthur, commented on Snaith’s award: “We’re obviously delighted for Henry’s work to be recognised in this way and it helps raise the profile of this ground-breaking technology. We’re making rapid progress towards commercialisation and expect to sign the first licensing deal with a glass manufacturer during 2015. As efficiencies continue to rise, we’re looking at utility applications, alongside the BIPV market, and are extremely optimistic that our product will be in use by 2017 or even sooner.”

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The UK is to become the biggest market for solar PV in Europe in the course of 2014, certifying its prominence as the hottest market throughout the sector. This will be the first time in which the UK will have took the podium spot for installed PV in Europe, consequently closing the superiority of mainland Europe (mainly Germany).

From 1995 to 2013, Germany was the prime country for solar PV in Europe each and every year, apart from 2008 when Spain took their position – this means 2014 will only be the second year in 20 years that a country, excluding Germany, has took the lead for European PV market requests.

Towards the end of 2009, PV installations in the UK was just 0.3% of that installed in Germany. However, just four years later and the UK is expected to lead the way for yearly PV demand in 2014.

Recent research on the European PV market for 2014, as stated by NPD Solarbuzz European PV Markets Quarterly report, claims the UK is now predicted to add 2.875GW of solar PV in 2014. This constitutes to a additional upgrade by NPD Solarbuzz on the UK market for 2014, with the earlier prediction a couple of months ago setting the UK at 2.5GW for the year.

The basis of the optimistic forecast for the UK is based on the following constituents:

NPD Solarbuzz just finalised Q1 2014 demand for the UK at just above 1.1GW, due to several additional projects completed just ahead of the 31 March 2014 Renewable Obligation certificate (ROC) deadline.

Funding remains strong under 1.4 ROCs (and even 1.3 ROCs for 2015/2016), with a very healthy pipeline of large-scale projects to be completed from Q2 to Q4 2014, as sourced from the new NPD Solarbuzz UK Deal Tracker report.

There is likely to be a Q4 2014 push to avoid flooding concerns in Q1 2015.

Pakistan is to construct an extremely large solar energy park in the desert in an attempt to address the country’s persistent power shortages.

The new solar power scheme is in progress with the government saying the QuaideAzam Solar Energy Park near Bahawalpur ‘will benefit the entire Punjab province.’

The bleak area is currently being revolutionized and the Punjab government has invested £3 million installing primary infrastructure for the new solar energy park, which it anticipates will develop into the largest of its kind in the world!

Imran Sikandar Baluch, head of the Bahawalpur district administration said:

“In phase one, a pilot project producing 100MW of electricity will hopefully be completed by the end of this year. After completion of the first 100MW project, the government will invite investors to invest here for the 1,000 megawatts.

“We need energy badly and we need clean energy, this is a sustainable solution for years to come.Pakistan is a place where you have a lot of solar potential. In Bahawalpur, with very little rain and a lot of sunshine, it makes the project feasible and more economical.”

Chief Minister of Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif, said that the project would bring an investment of more than 200 billion Pakistani rupees (£1.2 billion) to the region.

Pakistan has endured electricity shortages for years causing homes throughout the country without power for up to 18 hours a day.

A World Bank report indicicates that about 44 per cent of Pakistan’s homes are not connected to the grid.

Temperatures in central Pakistan can reach 50 degrees Celsius in the course of the summer months, driving the need for electricity increasingly high and leaving a shortfall of around 4,000MW.

The initial cost of £36.5 million was awarded by the Chinese government as a goodwill gesture and it is predicted that £600,000 each year will be saved in energy costs.

The United Nations has warned a prompt change to wind and solar power is required if the world is to steer clear of catastrophic global warming.

Releases of greenhouse gases need to be slashed by up to 70% before 2050 to manage climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has said. ‘Large-scale changes in energy systems’ are needed, along with coal power stations to be turned off and wind and solar to be put in its place.

This alteration needs to be carried out within the next 15 years or controlling climate change will eventually become progressively harder and more costly.

The report was published in Berlin, written by 235 international scientists and economists, they stated that efforts so far have failed to stop spiralling emissions of greenhouse gases – which have risen to ‘unprecedented levels’ in the past decade. Ottmar Edenhofer, co-chair of the authors said: “There is a clear message from science: to avoid dangerous interference with the climate system, we need to move away from business as usual.”

The IPCC report is the first extensive evaluation in 7 years of the options for dealing with climate change. It is the last part in a trilogy of IPCC reports on the causes, impacts and solutions to climate change.

The first section, issued last September, discovered that scientists are 95% positive that human beings are the ‘dominant cause’ of global warming.

The second part, published three weeks ago, suggested that the harsh effects of climate change are ‘already occurring on all continents and across the oceans’.

The final part, published just over a week ago on the options for diminishing global warming, warns that we have got to immensely minimize our use of fossil fuels.

“Without additional efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions beyond those in place today, emissions growth is expected to persist driven by growth in global population and economic activities,” the report threatens.

If no effort is taken, global temperatures will increase by up to 4.7C by the end of the century, which scientists are convinced it will create unrepairable and substantial damage to the planet.

The scientists are confident that if renewable energy is swiftly carried out, homes are built in a more viable and energy efficient way, and human utilization and wastefulness is changed, climate change can be controlled!

The energy and climate change minister, Ed Davey, has expressed admiration for the UK solar markets increase – now making it the 6th largest market for utility-scale solar in the world.

500MW of new schemes were connected in March in the run up to the Renewable Obligation rate degression. Subsequently, the UK has now joined a select few markets which have more than one gigawatt of installed utility-scale capacity, as stated by Wiki-Solar.org.

Mr Davey said: “The UK is among the world leaders for deploying solar energy and was top in Europe for new solar projects coming online in 2013. The market framework created by the UK government has resulted in significant investment in solar energy generation projects since 2010. Overall, renewable electricity generation investment of up to £40 billion is expected by 2020. Our Solar Strategy launched recently, sets out our clear ambition to see further deployment of solar and help us deliver the clean energy supplies that the country needs, at the lowest possible cost to consumers, creating jobs, growth and exports.”

This displays the installed capacity of utility-scale power plants in the leading solar markets at the end of March –

Country

No. of

Plants

Capacity

MWAC

United States

315

5,678

China

213

4,481

Germany

274

3,420

India

167

1,757

Spain

171

1,680

United Kingdom

188

1,328

Italy

82

876

Canada

56

714

France

46

647

Ukraine

17

477

Philip Wolfe of Wiki-Solar explained: “Even these figures may be understated. The energy regulator Ofgem has a backlog of several months in the registration process – when final figures are published we may find a lot more capacity was actually installed in the first quarter. I wouldn’t be surprised if the UK has even overtaken Spain and broken into the top five.”

That’s great news for the UK solar industry!

If you would like to invest in solar panels give us a call on – 0800 201 4528.

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British Scientists at the National Physical Laboratory have developed the most cutting-edge solar panels yet – working better on a dull, cloudy day.

The material is as slender and pliable as cloth, and can be produced from any colour and printed in sheets on a 3D printer. Despite the technology only being at the development stage, scientists believe that in the future it could be adopted to make coats or bags – charging phones and laptops or to just simply keep the user warm!

The advanced panels are extremely lightweight, making it ideal for homes without the need to reinforce roofs. Car manufacturer’s Ford and Fiat are also experimenting with the product to comprehend whether it can be attached to car roofs to charge electrical circuits and escape flat batteries.

The new science uses small organic molecules as semi-conductors which is dissolved into a solution and then printed in any shape using a 3D printer. Most photovoltaic cells perform best in strong, direct sunlight. Interestingly, the new material works more efficiently when OUT of direct sunlight – perfect for Britain’s erratic weather. Researchers identified that when testing it in direct sunlight desert conditions, it was only capable of achieving 10% energy efficiency. However, in cloudy conditions it reached 13%.

Dr Fernando Castro, Principal Research Scientist at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington said: “Organic photovoltaics work much better in low and diffused light conditions. Even if it is cloudy they still work. It’s not that they are going to produce more power but they are more efficient at generating power from the light that is available. So they would work better than normal solar cells do in cloud.”

The material would be more economical and environmentally friendly than regular solar panels, cutting the price of fitting them on homes.

“In the short term it will be used for consumer electronics that you could carry in your bag to charge your phone for example. And it comes in a variety of colours and shapes, instead of black. It can even be transparent so you could put it on windows and you wouldn’t see it.

“It’s also very light so you could just roll it out onto a roof. You wouldn’t need to reinforce the roof and there would be no need for health and safety training,” added Dr Castro.

The team who created the ‘Solar Impulse Project’ – a journey to take to the air around the world in a plane powered solely by the sun – has uncovered the high-tech aircraft in which the flyers will set out on their venture.

Its forerunner, ‘Solar Impulse 1’, has previously winged its way throughout America, and deposited enough power to fly all night!

Solar Impulse 2 measures its wingspan at 72m (236ft) and is the width of a ‘boeing 747’, yet it weighs the same as a large car.

18,000 solar cells (as thin as human hair) shield the plane’s wings, which then transform’s sunlight into electricity to power its engine and to store in its batteries.

André Borschberg, one of the pilots for the new aircraft described Solar Impulse 2 as ‘a major step up compared to the first one’. And added: “The first airplane was a kind of flying laboratory, and the second airplane we’re launching now is an airplane designed to travel”.

“We needed a plane with a lot more energy reserves, capable to fly through clouds, which the first one can’t do,” Borschberg explained.

Solar Impulse 2

Most of the technology aboard as regards to the solar cells and carbon fibre structure is an advancement from the first Solar Impulse. The pilot is especially proud of the electric motors.

“We have electric motors now which have up to 94% efficiency, including the electronics, the gearbox and the motor itself, which is amazingly high.”

The attempt will take place next year by the Switzerland –based team! Good luck to them 🙂

**COMPETITION TIME**

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Craig Smith, an ex- Royal Marine Reservist is tackling growing energy costs with his dedication to renewables. The entrepreneur launched his energy solution business named ‘Solec’ to supply a variety of energy alternatives to customers.

To begin with Mr Smith first built up his work through his reputation as an ordinary electrician, but has progressively developed his business within the renewable energy spectrum, with solar power, energy efficient lighting and electric vehicle charging points being his main speciality.

He experiments with the technology and tests them at his home, then provides them to customers. His cottage displays solar panels, LED lighting, wood burning heating and a system that pushes warm recycled fresh air around the house. The collaborated adjustments have saved the household hundreds of pounds in energy bills!

The ex- marine said:

“Investing in green technology is not just about saving the planet for future generations, it’s about saving money too, even small changes can have big effects – if a business swaps its lighting for energy efficient alternatives it can radically reduce its electricity bills for very little investment or effort.

“Eventually, I want both my home and business base to be something out of The Good Life, with free range chickens and organic vegetables growing in the garden,” he added.

The firm is currently located in Coopies Lane Industrial Estate in Northumberland. However, Mr Smith would like to broaden his green vision and his goal is to design and produce a custom-built, carbon neutral, self-sustaining office, manufactured from shipping containers, heated with a biomass boiler, powered by solar panels and featuring rainwater harvesters. Wow!

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Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has finished installing what is speculated to be the biggest rooftop solar array in the UK.

The new Engine Manufacturing Centre based in Staffordshire has over 21,000 solar modules! … and is able to create around 30% of Jaguar Land Rover Centre’s yearly energy requirements, comparable to energy consumed by 1,600 households. It will also reduce the site’s carbon footprint by over 2,400 tonnes annually.

Furthermore, the company intends to expand the array from 5.8MW to 6.3MW by the end of this year and the £500m project is anticipated to generate approximately 1,400 new jobs once the centre reaches sufficient enough capacity.

The plant has earned a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating across a range of efficiency measures, including heating and lighting systems designed to reduce energy demand, insulated cladding, maximising daylight through the roof design and utilizing natural ventilation through an automatic louver.

Trevor Leeks, Operations Director for the Engine Manufacturing Centre commented saying: “Our world-class facility showcases the latest sustainable technologies and innovations. The completion of the UK’s largest rooftop solar panel installation here at the Engine Manufacturing Centre is just one example of this.

“As the first manufacturer to win the ‘Responsible Business of the Year’ last year, environmental innovation lies at the heart of Jaguar Land Rover’s business.”

The innovative centre also uses highly advanced heating and lighting systems that help lower the plants energy consumption. Additionally, the energy monitoring facilities in the centre constantly examine the amount of energy being used.

Jaguar Land Rover – Biggest Solar Array In The UK

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